Taking long range shots

Ayush_reddevil

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Mar 22, 2014
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Every single game I watch Rashford,Bruno and Antony take shots from ridiculous positions that have virtually zero chances of going in. Yet somehow no one seems to stop them from doing this. Just today Rashford took one from 30 yards and Bruno did it in the 98th minute with 10 players in the box.

Surely this is a discipline thing and the manager seems to be letting it go. Rashford has carried us this season but he seems to not look for teammates at all, exactly the same for Antony and yet nothing seems to change game after game
 
Rashford's scored 30 odd goals this season, so I can imagine why he'd back himself. He's become a bit selfish as the seasons gone on though.

Antony shooting like he's the second coming of Ronaldo is fecking ridiculous though. Guy struggles to break double digits for goals across all competitons.
 
Rashford aside they can’t even score from inside the box yet decide to take pot shots from 25-30 yards out like that’s going to be successful. No words. :wenger:
 
Rashford and Antony are probably the two most selfish players we have, might be bold call, but I don't think either of them will be starters in a league-winning team for us.

Bruno generally makes decent choices, but he's one of the few players in our team that seems to have a plan with the ball once we're in the final third. I think his shots are more often out of frustration (lack of options etc.)
 
I have no problem taking long range shots if they hit the target.

The problem is that our long, medium, and short range shots don't hit the target or work the keeper enough. When we fire from long range, it's always over, wide, or both. When we fire from medium range, it's weak. When we fire from short range, it's at their keeper.

The problem is that we're shit at shooting. Which also just so happens to be the most important thing in football, as it leads to scoring goals.
 
Long shots require minimum effort in a build up or any combination. For lack of better ideas, just shoot.

It's another trip into prehistoria of football from players.
 
I wouldn’t mind if we were playing well and creating chances. If we could actually score some goals otherwise, the odd longshot isn’t a problem. But when we can’t do the basics it’s infuriating to see them being wasteful.
 
Thing is though that so much of a good attack is about building pressure and sustaining attacks. This just leads to giving the ball back
 
Thing is though that so much of a good attack is about building pressure and sustaining attacks. This just leads to giving the ball back
Yup. It's similar with countless clearances that go straight back to opponent. Players aren't thinking forward in many cases. Just kick it long, away from danger and hopefully someone will intercept. Another easy way to lose control of the game.
 
If you look at how many shots we take per game I’d say ETH is encouraging players to shoot on sight. This could be successful if we actually have someone like Kane taking the shots
 
You can tell when Rashford is struggling or frustrated, he tries that long range punt shot that never comes off.

Antony.. well its the same thing every game isn't it? He cuts in on his left foot to try that curler and it rarely comes off.
 
This is the most frustrating thing about football. A lot of terrible habits of players could be solved with a warning from the manager to cut it out, or you won't get picked.

I made a thread a couple of years ago about Fred shooting from distance every game despite having one of the worst shots in football, and Ole just let him do it for years, he even joked about how funny it was in interviews that he never actually scores with them. At the time it seemed like almost no one thought it was an issue that our worst shooter was shooting from 25+ yards on his weak foot every game, ruining our attacks. https://www.redcafe.net/threads/is-...very-single-game-and-on-his-weak-foot.461053/

It's not just ETH but managers indulge players in their worst habits. It's the same with players lack of discipline who constantly get involved in petty scraps and fights on the pitch which has already cost us this season with stupid cards. Players who constantly pick up needless yellow cards, often early yellow cards so they can't make a tackle for the rest of the game, again it's something I cannot believe can't be fixed if the manager is in their ear about it. Bruno managed to pick up 5 PL yellows by November missing the Villa game which we ended up losing, all because he picks up stupid bookings with lack of discipline. And I don't think we need to speak about Casemiro's discipline.
 
Ole is right. Our build up play feels like we're just building up for the sake of building up, not scoring a goal.
 
Every single game I watch Rashford,Bruno and Antony take shots from ridiculous positions that have virtually zero chances of going in. Yet somehow no one seems to stop them from doing this. Just today Rashford took one from 30 yards and Bruno did it in the 98th minute with 10 players in the box.

Surely this is a discipline thing and the manager seems to be letting it go. Rashford has carried us this season but he seems to not look for teammates at all, exactly the same for Antony and yet nothing seems to change game after game
It’s infuriating. For all his faults, at least Martial tries to create proper scoring opportunities.
 
Our attackers are brain dead. ETH needs to sort that out, there is barely any pattern in our attacking play, making space and creating better scoring opportunity are not in our dictionary.
 
Ole is right. Our build up play feels like we're just building up for the sake of building up, not scoring a goal.

This is so true. I get nightmares of Rashford with the ball at his feet 30 yards from goal just standing there for 10 seconds doing nothing with the ball. How is this real for a billion pound team
 
This is so true. I get nightmares of Rashford with the ball at his feet 30 yards from goal just standing there for 10 seconds doing nothing with the ball. How is this real for a billion pound team

What is sad is watching very creative players like Bruno, Casemiro, and Sancho completely run out of ideas the moment they get anywhere near the box. This suggests to me a lack of proper coaching during the week to resolve the issue, which has been ongoing for a while now.
 
This why I can't see why getting Kane or Osimhen in will make a difference. These wingers want personal glory rather than team glory. It's like having a Mo Salah either side but neither of them are as prolific.
 
Generally I have no problem with it. But not all long-range shots are created equal. Bruno's last shot was not that far out. If he keeps it down then the goalkeeper might be forced to give a rebound.
 
Rashford's scored 30 odd goals this season, so I can imagine why he'd back himself. He's become a bit selfish as the seasons gone on though.

Antony shooting like he's the second coming of Ronaldo is fecking ridiculous though. Guy struggles to break double digits for goals across all competitons.

Rashford has scored a lot of goals but he doesn’t half waste the ball at times. He took a shot from about 40 yards yesterday. It’s totally unnecessary as it’s rare to score from that distance. The header as well when he’s trying to head towards goal at a tight angle, having to generate power. I’m guessing it’s because he knows Wout is useless but he still needs to find the man in the box. If and and when we get a better CF his link up play has to improve. Passing quality is definitely Rashford’s weakness.
 
I don't think it's a very big issue. Most of the shots we take on I'm happy with. It's only like one or two a game I object to.
 
i think I've more of an issue with our inability to hit the target from said long shots. These are professional footballers, the amount of shots ballooned over the bar, not even close to testing the keeper is infuriating.
 
There was a moment yesterday where Bruno just took a punt during a counter attack because it seemed like he couldn't be bothered to hold the ball up.

The shot wasn't even on and just did it anyway.
 
i think I've more of an issue with our inability to hit the target from said long shots. These are professional footballers, the amount of shots ballooned over the bar, not even close to testing the keeper is infuriating.

Yes, this is the bigger issue. If you hit the target with a heavy shot then it very quickly becomes a chance.
 
I thought we were quite unfortunate with our shooting on the edge of the box yesterday. There was about 4 that either went inches wide, or skimmed off the post. Normally we're ballooning them over the bar and into the 2nd tier.

As much as Antony loves a pot shot, I wish he'd mix up his shot selection a bit. He's decent at bending it far post, but if he occasionally drilled it near post, he'd catch the keeper well off guard.
 
That Bruno 98th minute was justified.

A good dummy and a 16 yard box shot is on point.
If he just managed to keep it low...
Not if there are loads of our players in the box and hes trying to hit a worldie on his weaker foot
 
We scored 49 goals so the biggest thing we need is shooting practice in training. It shows on the pitch this must be low priority, which is ridiculous
 
I think the biggest cause of this is the style of the players. Bruno and Rashford have always loved a punt. Now we've bought a guy in Antony who appears to have one move. Cut inside and curl it into the far side. Twenty times a game. With this personnel I would think we will always have a fair chance of being one of the most likely teams to shoot from distance.

But there's probably also some other contributing factors such as bad buildup at times. If we are running out of ideas or building slowly, or the strikers aren't getting it into feet in dangerous positions as much as they would like, then they are probably more likely to take a punt because they see it as a rare opportunity that we'll actually score.

As a manager you have to be a bit careful. You probably want to discourage the ridiculously speculative ones. But you don't want to go full Louis van Gaal and ban all off the cuff actions. You do need to encourage moments of genius from players that have ability.
 
We should take more of them - a lot more. Rashford, Eriksen, Fernandes, Anthony and Casemiro all have excellent range shooting so we should be peppering the goal every match. 20+ shots every time.